Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Scraps n' crap

I did it. I wasn't really meaning to do it and I certainly was unprepared for it but, nonetheless, I did it.

What the hell am I rambling on about? Well, last week when I was discussing how I started using a bandana at work instead of paper towels, I mentioned how I really should be taking home my food waste scraps.

Now, we do have recycling at work and a bin for the worm composter, but you have to cut everything up into super tiny pieces before putting it in the bin. And, frankly, I can't justify standing there for 20 minutes every day trying to saw my food waste into molecule sized bits with the incredibly dull knives we have in the kitchen. And, furthermore, the worms are rather particular about what they will eat anyway.

But, food waste collection at home? You can put in all manner of paper and food scraps.

So, this morning as I was lobbing my teabag into the garbage, I stopped for a moment. And then when the banana peel went in I stopped again, and the thought of bringing those babies home with me crossed my mind. I rigged up a makeshift carrying container (tomorrow I'll come prepared!) and started packing things up.

And now if I accidentally grab some paper towels in the bathroom (old habits die hard), I can put them in the food waste at home.

What do you do with the compostables you generate at work?

7 comments:

QT said...

The situation in my building is ridiculous. They tell us to put everything in one wastebin and it will be recycled, but I know this can't be true when I throw paper in there and then throw food wrappers in there.

Nevermind the people who come to collect the waste at the end of the day couldn't care less. I've been there when they show up. I should ask the person in charge of this what the heck is going on.

Caroline said...

OK, so I don't work outside the home, but most of our food scraps (with the exception of maybe coffee grounds and apple cores) go to our animals. The chickens and goats recycle almost everything edible, including cucumber peels, banana peels, corn cobs, etc.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I'll do it. Sign me up for the Diva Challenge. I'll unscrunch my nose and take the plunge.

What I planted so far: pumpkin, yellow squash, zucchini, potatoes, carrots, cilantro and mesclun lettuces. Mmm - cilantro...

What I compost: weeds (after I've sundried and shredded them), vegetable food waste, small amounts of waste paper, and truckloads of sawdust I steal (with permission) from behind the hardwoods mill.

P~ said...

You are so more motivated than me. You know, I generally feel pretty good about the baby steps that we've been taking around our home, but really, you just make me feel guilty. I read No Impact Man, (I found him through your site by the way, thanks.) and he is so far beyond that I just can't compare. But you strike me as an average person, with kids and a job outside the home and I dunno, I guess I can relate more to you. I just gotta hand it to you. Good job.

Crunchy Chicken said...

qt - Yes, I've heard the "they sort at the facility" sort of argument but I'm always skeptical.

caroline - Well, you have quite the setup going there! Does goat poop make a good fertilizer? I know chicken does.

junebuglet - Consider yourself signed up. That makes us 17 in the DivaCup Challenge!

Zucchini! That's what I forgot to plant! Now where to put it...

p~ - Aw, shucks. You almost make me a little teary-eyed. And, you're right, I'm just your average Crunchy Chicken trying to do what I can. Within reason :)

Plus, we Web Application Developers have to stick together, no?

Anonymous said...

We are lucky to work in a LEED certified building with very forward thinking building management. Just last month our office of 60+ employees started using a composting bin in our kitchen. The building's cleaning crew takes it to be composted with other compostables from the three restaurants in the building.
So far so good!

April said...

If it's not too messy I'll wrap my family's bits of sadndwiches or chips or whatever from eating out and bring it home to the chickens. We don't throw out any food except onion scraps, they taint the eggs and if I put them in the compost heap the chickens will still get to them. I try to compost as much as possibel, even the huge paper feed bags that the chicken scratch comes in. I look at the food that is thrown away in restraunts and always think, "Wow, I could feed a bunch of chickens on that!"